Canada sanctions Russian billionaire Abramovich

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Canada sanctions Russian billionaire Abramovich

Canada slapped sanctions on Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich on Friday, but said the move won't affect Canadian operations of Evraz North America, which supplies much of the steel for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

Mr. Abramovich is the No. 1 target for sanctions was recommended by Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that Mr. Abramovich and four others, who enabled Navalny s detention and worked to prop up Vladimir Putin's regime, were hit with an assets freeze and were banned from doing business in Canada.

Mr. Trudeau said on Friday that the federal government is banning 32 Russian companies and government entities from receiving any defence equipment or supplies from Canada.

The government said that those entities supported or supported Mr. Putin's unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine and the sanctioned individuals are complicit in the invasion.

"This is part of the move together with allies around the world to demonstrate clear and deep consequences for Putin and those who have enabled his regime," Trudeau told reporters on Friday.

The sanctions against Mr. Abramovich came a day after Britain took the same move. The billionaire is known for his ownership of England's Chelsea Football Club but he also owns more than 28 per cent of the London-based Evraz PLC, which owns the subsidiary Evraz North America.

The subsidiary operates steel-producing sites in the United States and Canada, including locations in Regina and the Alberta cities of Calgary, Camrose and Red Deer. It supplies 58 percent of the steel used in the $21.4 billion Trans Mountain Expansion Project, which is twinning the 1,150 kilometre Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia. The project includes expanding Burnaby, B.C. The Westridge Marine Terminal is a westridge marine terminal where crude oil is shipped abroad.

The sanctions targeted Mr. Ambramovich and not Evraz North America, but he said the company's operations would continue. The Prime Minister said that the billionaire can't profit from economic activities in Canada.

Trudeau said that they were confident that this will not affect the hard-working Canadians who are doing good work in companies across the country.

Abramovich can't sell his shares in the company, or do anything else with the shares, the Prime Minister spokesman Ann-Clara Vaillancourt said.

The federal government slapped sanctions on 15 of the 35 people recommended by Mr. Navalny last week. Others on the list were previously sanctioned by Ottawa.

A letter from the Anti-Corruption Foundation, sent on behalf of Mr. Navalny, describes Mr. Abramovich as one of the key enablers and beneficiaries of the Kremlin's kleptocracy. Also sanctioned Friday are billionaire Alisher Usmanov, Judge Elena Morozova, who jailed Mr. Navalny, Igor Yanchuk, the head of the police department responsible for the Kremlin's arrest, and the election commission chief Ella Pamfilova, who has legitimized the Kremlin's unfree and unfair elections. Mr. Usmanov is a Russian oligarch who made his fortune in metals and telecoms. The billionaire is a long-time ally of Mr. Putin and has been sanctioned by the United States, Britain and the European Union.

The Prime Minister ended his five-day trip to Europe in Poland on Friday. After meeting with 13 world leaders, he flies back to Ottawa, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg were also in attendance.